Solar Thermal water

Distillation/Desalination
Process
Environment and Sustainability 1
India is a vast country with an area of 328.78 Mha with a coastline of 5690 km.

India supports a population of more than1 billion, and to support such a big population
agriculture plays a very essential role .
Environment and Sustainability 2
In irrigation and other water supplies ground water plays a very important role, nearly 48% of
the irrigation is provided by ground water and 52% by surface water.

In recent years the ground water levels have dropped 5-15 m in many areas of India as a
result of over exploitation of fresh water.

Environment and Sustainability 3

Degree of saline
water presence in
various parts of India

•This is a Map generated by Central

Ground Water Board under
Ministry of Water Resource
Government of India.

•It show’s the various regions in

India effected by saline ground
water.

•From this map it is evident that

saline content in ground water is
the highest in Gujarat and
Rajasthan.
Environment and Sustainability 4
Case Study Area

Gujarat:
Northern Gujarat and the coastal areas

•The population of the Gujarat State was 50.67 million as per the
2001 census data

•The coastal population is 9.4 million

•Population of Kutch district is 1.5 million

Environment and Sustainability 5

 Gujarat: A Water Scarce
State

•Having a diverse geological and climatic

condition, most part of Gujarat comes under
scarcity prone area. The uneven distribution of
rainfall from 2000 to 200mm annually and the
complex geographical formation across the state
make storage water and reallocation of recharged
ground water difficult.

•Gujarat also has a very long coast line and Gujarat has long coastline of 1125 kms Km and
two huge gulfs- The Gulf of Cambay and The Gulf of Kutch, besides these the entire Little
Rann of Kutch and Greater Rann of Kutch are inundated with saline sea water for most part of
the year which deteriorates the ground water quality in the adjoining areas.

*From Policy to Practice Users as Managers of Rural Drinking Water Supply System Water and Sanitation Management Organization
(WASMO) Environment and Sustainability 6
Gujarat has about 5.96% of India’s geographic area and about 5 % of the population, but it
has only 2.63% of the countries fresh water content. The coastal zone population has
increased from 7.5 million to 9.4 million, i.e. an increase of 24.74%. This has adversely hit the
availability of fresh surface water and has increased the saline water content

Environment and Sustainability 7

 •The Industrial growth in this state has also been very rapid due to which excess use of
ground water besides agriculture has resulted in the subsequent depletion of the quality and
amount of fresh water that was available.

Surveys were undertaken in coastal belt of

Saurashtra to determine the cause and effect
relationship of salinity through pumping of
groundwater in the coastal regions The study
revealed that the limited outflows to the sea and
the use and reuse of the limited groundwater
available in the coastal aquifer and extensive use
of chemical fertilisers has lead to mineralisation
leading to increase in salinity of groundwater.
Moreover, the salt-water intrusion has reached 25
km inland.

Environment and Sustainability 8

An overview of the current situation in
Northern Gujarat

Water and Sanitation Management Organization had conducted a survey of 7675 villages
and a certain data was extracted form it

•35% of the 7675 villages are affected by salinity

•55% of the villages are affected by Fluoride

•2% of the villages affected by both Salinity and Fluoride

• i.e. 88% of villages that have either Salinity or a Fluoride problem.

For salinity, the main affected areas are the coastal areas and some inland areas in northern
Gujarat.

For Fluoride the severely affected zones are in northern Gujarat and in southern
Saurashtra.

Environment and Sustainability 9

 Salinity levels in various areas

*Groundwater and well-water quality in Alluvial Environment

aquifer of Central Gujarat
and Sustainability 10
Sunderrajan Krishnan, Sanjiv Kumar, Doeke Kampma and Suresh Nagar International Water Management Institute(IWMI)
 Study Area Junagadh District

•The total area of the district is 8,846 sq km.

• As per 2001 census, the population of

Junagadh district is 24, 48,173

•Agriculture is the backbone of the district

economy. Even Fish processing industry is a
major sector in Junagadh.

•Average Rainfall recorded in this place is 787

mm.

*Ingress of saline water in Coastal aquifers of Junagadh, Gujarat by T. Raychoudhury & S. Krishnan
International Water Management Institute-Tata, Anand-388120,
Environment Gujarat, India
and Sustainability 11
 Junagadh, a coastal area
Main causes of increase in salinity may be due to inherent salinity, tidal effect, irrigation
by saltwater and by seawater intrusion due to extensive pumping.

Around 90 wells were considered for monitoring and water sampling. Water sample
having TDS within 1750ppm to 2000 ppm is considered as saline water depending on
Indian standards (2000 ppm) as of today. With this specification salinity ingress
distance and profile has been found out and the result is given below

Salinity Ingress Distance in Different Talukas of Junagadh area

Talukas Salinity Ingress Distance
Una 9.6
Kodiral 9.5
Veraval 7.5
Mangrol 8.25
.

*Ingress of saline water in Coastal aquifers of Junagadh, Gujarat by T. Ray Choudhury & S. Krishnan
International Water Management Institute-Tata, Anand-388120, Gujarat, India
Environment and Sustainability 12
 Conclusions
From the observation of the data collected it is noticed that the salinity ingress in
coastal Junagadh area are extended from past three decades in different rate. In
2008 pre-monsoon period this ingress distance is found in a range of 7.5 km to 9.6
km on an average

Comparison of intervened and non intervened sites show that Government

interventions are also not bringing much change in salinity ingress scenario in macro
scale but there are few changes in the micro scale

“Ingress of saline water in Coastal aquifers of Junagadh, Gujarat

Environment by T. Ray Choudhury & S. Krishnan”
and Sustainability 13
 Study Area Kutch District

•Kutch is the Largest District in

India with a total area of 45652
sq km. But it is very sparsely
populated

•As per 2001 census, total

population was estimated as
15,83,225

•Out of this, the Rann of Kutch

or salt desert occupies nearly
nearly 2/3rd of the area.

•Average Rainfall recorded in

this place is 587mm

*Salinity Mapping In Coastal Area Using GIS and Remote Sensing

Thesis submitted to the International Institute for Geo-information
Environment and Sustainability Science and Earth Observation 14
Problem of salinity ingress is also being faced along Saurashtra and Kachchh
coast for coastline Due to various agricultural practices sea water ingress even up to 8 to 9
Km in ground has occurred effecting approximately 10.8 lack people

The factors responsible

•Irregular and low precipitation

•Highly porous geological formations
•Low natural charge
•Poor land management
•Excessive withdrawal of water for irrigation

*Salinity Mapping In Coastal Area Using GIS and Remote

Environment Sensing
and Sustainability 15
Thesis submitted to the International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation
Conclusion

•The soil in this area contains high amount of saline content in the soil itself and there
has also been a lot of cases of sea water ingress from the past many years. The people in
this area are used to drinking salty water but this eventually damages there overall
health.

•Due to the high amount of saline there are not many farming activities in this area,
there are some cattle and sheep who graze off some grass growing in random places

•But due the high saline presence there are also numerous salt pans in this area from
which salt crystals are obtained after letting the water evaporate under the sun

Environment and Sustainability 16

Water supply at different levels

District Level Construction of desalination plants

Taluka Level Construction of deep tube wells

Village wells/supply by government water

Panchayat Level
tankers

Domestic Level Water pipeline or collection of water

from wells

Environment and Sustainability 17

 Water Ingress

Due to excessive pumping of ground water in the costal regions the natural hydraulic gradient
and aquifer have become saline. Increase in salinity beyond a certain tolerance limit leads to
high saline of groundwater, thus making it unusable.
*Salinity Mapping In Coastal Area UsingEnvironment
GIS and Remote Sensing
and Sustainability 18
Thesis submitted to the International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation
 Effects of high level of Salinity in the water
consumed
Continuous consumption
of saline water results in
kidney stones, blood
pressure and several skin
diseases.
The daily consumption
of saline water results in
undesirable taste, gastro
intestinal irritations,
corrosion or incrustation

Due to high
consumption of salt
Dental Flourosis is also a
skeletal flourosis also
common occurring
occurs which results in
among people with high
weak bones thus people
saline consumption..
have a difficult time Consumption
standing up and walking.
of Saline
water

*Groundwater contamination and rural water treatment in Gujarat Safe drinking water for the last person?
Rajnarayan Indu* and Sunderrajan Krishnan for International Water
Environment and Management Institute
Sustainability 19
 Social Problems for not adopting community
based water purification methods

•Not all households would be willing to shell out equally for a commonly owned treatment
system, especially since the most common techniques of treatment such as Reverse Osmosis
(RO) is quite costly, as compared to the saving levels of rural poor.

•Variation in the source and quality of water around the year, makes it compulsory for
multiple treatments of water

•Varity of other social problems

i) taking into account that many farmers drink water from bore-wells in the fields,
ii) single common source of drinking water for several villages.
iii) catering to old, disabled and remotely located inhabitants

*Groundwater contamination and rural water treatment in Gujarat

Environment Safe drinking water for the last person?
and Sustainability 20
Rajnarayan Indu* and Sunderrajan Krishnan for International Water Management Institute
Region Biased problems due to lack of fresh water
Most households suffer severe shortages of fresh water, due the soil itself
being
•.
saline

In some districts, women walk more than 10-12 km to fetch fresh water for
domestic purpose.

Supply of domestic water by a government tanker to a number of villages is

not regular and sometimes in a weekly biases.

Gujarat dose not have many perennial sources of water and it is

predominantly a rain-fed agriculture.

Due to lack of fresh water, washing clothes is not a daily activity due to
which skin problems and rashes develop mostly in women.

Due to different geographic factors door to door connection of pipe line is

not possible in many of the villages.

*Gender Roles and Multiple Uses of Water in North Gujarat

Environment and Sustainability 21
by Bhawana Upadhyay for International Water Management Institute
 Current techniques adopted for water distillation

Methods adopted by other areas having similar problem

Chemical and Mechanical Process for Distillation of Saline Water

•Reverse Osmosis (RO)

•Thermal Desalination
•Mechanical Vapor Compression
•Multi Effect Evaporation
•Multi Stage Flash Distillation

•Solar Water Disinfection Technique (SWDT)

•Water Harvesting

•Waste Water Treatment

Environment and Sustainability 22

Current Practices in studied areas for water
filtration

•Water supply from the Narmada Pipeline: supplied mostly to townships, and some
villages, but it is still unreachable to the villages in the coasts.

•Reverse Osmosis: is being practiced only in small townships and it is not possible at the
village level due to the high initial cost and running costs.

•Solar Distillation: this process is being carried out in few places but they are not been
practiced regularly and effectively due its lack of efficiency. But research on this is still
being carried out by Gujarat Energy Development Agency

Environment and Sustainability 23

 Permissible amount of contents in water

•Portable or drinkable water should have saline content of less than 550 parts per
million (ppm) of total dissolved solid (TDS)

•The average demand for fresh water per person per day should be around 50-100
liters, for different uses such as bathing, washing and drinking and other purposes. But
in areas of limited fresh water this drops down to 5- 6 liters per day per member
depending upon the water supply and area they stay in

•The saline content in underground water in places near to the coast is near to 2000-
2500ppm of TDS, and for sea water its between 30,000 to 50,000 ppm of TDS.
The permissible amount of saline content for agricultural use and other
purposes is between 1500-2000ppm of TDS.

*Salinity is represented by TDS concentration in parts per million (ppm)

ppm is parts per million, it is the amount of solvent in the water
TDS is total dissolved solvent Environment and Sustainability 24
Water distillation though boiling/condensation of
vapors
•Boiling is used as a method of water purification.

•Boiling is commonly advocated as an emergency water treatment method, or as a method of

portable water purification in rural settings without access to a potable drinking water

•Water purification, such as distillation, is especially important in regions where water resources or
tap water is not suitable for ingesting without boiling or chemical treatment.

•By the process of distillation though boiling or condensation most of the impurities are distilled
out and drinkable water can the acquired after the process
Solar water distillation

In solar distillation water is evaporated;

using the energy of the sun then the vapor
condenses as pure water. This process
removes salts and other impurities.
 Components of a Solar Still
Transparent Cover

Sealant

Insulation Basin Condensate Channel

Black Liner

• Basin • Condensate Channel

• Black Liner • Sealant
• Transparent Cover • Insulation
• System • Supply and Delivery
Environment and Sustainability 27
 Types of Solar Stills
Multiple-effect basin stills: have two or more compartments. The condensing surface of
the lower compartment is the floor of the upper compartment. The heat given off by the
condensing vapor provides energy to vaporize the feed water above. Efficiency is therefore
greater than for a single-basin still typically being 35% or more but the cost and complexity
are correspondingly
higher.

*Understanding Solar Stills by Horace McCracken &Joel Gordes

Virginia Institute of Technology Environment and Sustainability 28
 Wick stills - In a wick still, the feed water flows slowly through a porous, radiation-
absorbing pad (the wick). Two advantages are claimed over basin stills. First, the wick can
be tilted so that the feed water presents a better angle to the sun (reducing reflection
and presenting a large effective area). Second, less feed water is in the still at any time
and so the water is heated more quickly and to a higher temperature. Simple wick stills
are more efficient than basin stills and some designs are claimed to cost less than a basin
still of the same output.

the need to frequently clean the cloth wick of

built-up sediments

the need to replace the black wick material on a

regular basis due to sun bleaching and physical
deterioration by ultra-violet radiation

*Understanding Solar Stills by Horace McCracken &Joel Gordes

Virginia Institute of Technology Environment and Sustainability 29
 Emergency still - To provide emergency drinking water on land, a very simple still can
be made. It makes use of the moisture in the earth. All that is required is a plastic
cover, a bowl or bucket, and a pebble.

*Understanding Solar Stills by Horace McCracken &Joel Gordes

Virginia Institute of Technology Environment and Sustainability 30
Solar Stills in the market

Solar Still Developed by Maharashtra Energy

Development Agency
Solar Stills Developed by Gujarat Energy
Development Agency

Solar Still using Parabolic Mirror to concentrate the sunlight into the
water trough
Environment and Sustainability 31
 Aquadome: this is a type of water
Solar distillator with two slat glazing surfaces
distillator used mostly for
personal use.

Solar distilator with curved surface

Watercone a product developed for the Dry African

Nations Environment and Sustainability 32
 MATERIALS FOR SOLAR STILLS

• Transparent Covering: Should have high transmittance for solar radiation, opaque to
thermal radiation, resistance to abrasion, long life, low cost, lightweight, easy to handle
and apply, and universal availability.

• Black Linear: Should absorb more solar radiation, should be durable, should be water
tight, easily cleanable, low cost, and should be able to withstand temperature around 100
Deg C.

• Sealant : Should remain resilient at very low temperatures, low cost, durable and easily
applicable..

• Basin Tray: Should have long life, high resistance to corrosion and low cost.

• Condensate Channel: Should not again contaminate the distilled water

Environment and Sustainability 33

 BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF A GOOD SOLAR STILL

• Be easily assembled in the field

• Be constructed with locally available materials

• Be light weight for ease of handling and transportation

• Have an effective life of 10 to 20 Yrs.

• No requirement of any external power sources

• Can also serve as a rainfall catchment surface

• Materials used should not contaminate the distillate

• Meet standard civil and structural engineering standards

• Should be low in cost.

Environment and Sustainability 34

Parameters of Solar Still’s output
1. Climatic Parameters
I. Solar Radiation
II. Ambient Temperature
III. Wind Speed
IV. Outside Humidity
V. Sky Conditions

2. Design Parameters
I. Single slope or double slope
II. Glazing material
III. Water depth in Basin
IV. Bottom insulation
V. Orientation of still
VI. Inclination of glazing
VII. Spacing between water and glazing
VIII. Type of solar still

Environment and Sustainability 35

Conclusion
•Even though the current efficiency of a multi stage solar still is 35% and a single stage
is around 30%, a solar still will be the ideal equipment for production of drinking
water in areas where saline content is high. A solar still can also be helpful to distill
out most of the general known contaminants.

•The major problem in the current design is the rate of production

•There is sometimes algae growth in the stills due to constant presence of water, and
cleaning is also a problem.

•The use of solar desalination system in highly saline areas would help in extracting
the salt crystals dissolved in the water.

•An average farmer might also use a portable distillation device to carry it to his fields
and distill the irrigation water itself to produce drinking water in place where there is
shortage of fresh water

•A community based water distillation/desalination device could be made which

could supply drinking water to the families if its efficiency could be improved.

Environment and Sustainability 36

Solar Water Distillatory for community
level
By Sahaj Ghose

Environment and Sustainability 37

Abstract

There are many methods and processes of solar distillation and many solar
distillation devices are available in the market, but these devices are very
bulky, expensive or not very efficient.
According to the research made there is a need of a solar distillatory which
can be made affordable and which would provide drinking water at domestic
level or at a community level. Portability of the device is also important.
Secondary Research
The basic working of a solar still is based on evaporation and condensation thus a
little bit of research as on these.

Evaporation : Evaporation is a type of phase transition; it is the process by which

molecules of water in a liquid state spontaneously become gaseous due to heating.

Condensation: is the change in the phase of matter from the gaseous phase into liquid
droplets. Or in our case from water vapor to liquid form of water.

Environment and Sustainability 39

Factors affecting the evaporation of water

• the increase in temperature increases

Temperature the rate of evaporation.

• : Increase in the surface over which the

Surface area liquid is spread increases the rate of
evaporation.

Presence of • the increase in the amount of humidity

in the air reduces the rate of
humidity evaporation.

Environment and Sustainability 40

Social Considerations for Design

•I had decided to design a efficient solar water distillator at a community level, that is for
a family of 5.
As each families requires around 20 liters (for drinking and cooking) had
decided to construct a disstilator which would provide for it.

•A number of 5 families was chosen as this would increase the mutual understanding
among the families as to how much of water would be taken by each of the families.

•This would also help the individuals families keep a check on the maintenance of there
own evaporation trays .

•Having a small number would also reduce the time women had to wait in line to collect
water.

Environment and Sustainability 41

 Concepts For a Solar Water Distillator
Reflecting Surface Basins

Condensation Tank
There are two basins present which are attached to a condensation
tank in the center. There are two reflecting mirrors which help to
concentrate the sunlight to the to basins.
Environment and Sustainability 42
 Basins for water evaporation
Storage Tank

Reflecting Surface

The Solar water distillatory here uses three basins for the evaporation of water. There are three
individual water storage tanks that supply water to the three solar stills. There is a single
reflecting surface which concentrates the solar rays to the Basin.
Environment and Sustainability 43
 Transparent Surface

Storage
Trough

Corrugated
surface to
Collection Trough increase the
surface
In this design there is a single transparent surface but it is curved. There is one
areas of
storage trough where all the saline water is given as input and a collecting trough
water
where the saline water is collected. The corrugated surface helps in evaporation of
water. Environment and Sustainability 44
 Transparent cover

Evaporation Plate

This is a tree design for a solar

distillatory where the evaporation plates
are at a higher position, over here again
the curved glazing surface is used.

Collection tank
Environment and Sustainability 45
 Evaporating
Basins

Preheating Tank

Moving away from the curved glazing surface I had come back to the flat
Condensation Tank surfaced evaporating trays and increased the number of trays that would
be used at one go. This design also contains a pre heating tank and a
condensation tank.
Environment and Sustainability 46
The Final Concept
Evaporation Tray
Preheating Tank

In my final concept I have put in 5 trays from where Condensation Tank

condensation would occur, a preheating tank and a
condensation tank. The trays in this design can be taken out to
be cleaned Environment and Sustainability 47
Rendered image of the concept
Working of the Solar Water Distillatory
The Condensation tank is at a
The salty water is first stored in The flow of water to the
The pre heated lower temperature than the
the preheating tank or storage tank is stopped by the
water is then evaporating trays, due to this
tank where its temperature valves present. The water
transferred to difference in temperature the
increases due to its exposure to is heated here until it
the through water vapors flow into this
the sun. this pre heating process evaporates and the vapors
the pipes to chamber get condensed. An
makes the evaporation from the are trapped by the glass
the to the tray outlet from the bottom enables
trays faster panel covering the tray.
the water to be extracted

1
3

4
 The salty water is first stored in
the preheating tank or storage
tank where its temperature
Working of the Solar Water Distillatory
increases due to its exposure to
the sun. this pre heating
process makes the evaporation The pre heated
from the trays faster water is then
transferred to the
through the pipes
to the to the tray

The flow of water to the tank

is stopped by the valves
present. The water is heated
here until it evaporates and
the vapors are trapped by the
glass panel covering the tray.

The Condensation tank is at a lower

temperature than the evaporating
trays, due to this difference in
temperature the water vapors flow
into this chamber get condensed. An
outlet from the bottom enables the
water to be extracted
The Main Parts of the Solar Distillator
: is where the saline
The Basin
tank
The Storage and preheating
water is initially fed.
Along with the storage
of the water the tank
also acts as a
preheating chamber
where the stored water
gets heated before it is
sent to the basin.
: after the water has
: after the evaporation
The Condensation Tank
been sent down from has taken place in the
the over head pre basin the vapor then
heating tank the water gets transferred to the
enters the basin where condensation tank,
the actual operation of which is at a slightly
evaporation occurs. the lower temperature
basin contains several than the basin.
trays of 20 liter
capacity each and a
glazing surface which
traps the vapors.
Environment and Sustainability 51
The evaporation tray present in the basin
contains a valve which prevents the water
from over flowing and also maintains a
constant flow of water into the tray.

The valve works on the principle of

buoyancy. When the water fills up the tray
the hollow plastic starts to float and the
rubber stopper present at the top stops the
flow of water.
 The Preheating Tank
•The Pre Heating Tank will have a capacity of 100 liters.

•The pre heating tank can be made form Aluminum

(6061) as it has good thermal conductive property and
has a good specific heat capacity , due to which the heat
can easily be transferred from the surface of the metal to
the water stored inside and due to low value of specific
heat capacity it can get heated easily.

•To increase the rate of absorption the tank can be coated

or covered with a black material.

Thermal Conductivity:
It is the property of a material that indicates its
ability to conduct heat.
Specific Heat Capacity
The specific heat capacity of a solid or liquid is
defined as the heat required to raise unit mass of
substance by one degree of temperature.
Environment and Sustainability 53
 The Basin
•The basin contains five trays having a
capacity of 13.5 liters each. The whole
production capacity of the solar still is 67
liters per day.
•The base area of the basin has an area of
33.63 square feet which can produce 67 liters
of water per day.

•The material for the basin could be aluminum coated with silicon rubber or aluminum sheet of 1
mm width. Aluminum coated with silicon is suggested as the silicon coating would reduce the
time of corrosion.
•The aluminum sheets could be
coated with Teflon or colored
black, for better absorption of
heat.

Environment and Sustainability 54

 Glazing Surface
•Even though the plastics are cheaper than either window glass or tempered glass, they are
not preferred as they deteriorate under high temperatures and have poor wetability.

• Moreover, under temperature conditions typical of solar stills, the chemicals in plastics are
likely to interact with the distilled water, possibly posing a health hazard

•The glass that is preferably used is tempered glass as it is stronger than window glass it
has better transmittance and is not affected by high temperature.

•The preferred width of the glazing surface that is to be installed is 35 to 40 millimeter

Tubing
Black polyethylene is preferred for tubing as it does not break up easily and is not affected
by temperatures above 70 degrees centigrade.
PVC pipes might also be used but in the first few days of operation a small
amount of gas is emitted which affects in the taste of the water.

Environment and Sustainability 55


The Condensation Tank
Environment and Sustainability
•After water has been evaporated and
converted into vapor state, the vapor
gets transferred into the condensation
tank which is kept at a relatively lower
temperature than the basin.
•The condensation tank is directly
connected to the basin so there is not
much energy loss in the transfer of the
vapors.
•Due to the presence of the
condensation tank, the water droplets
are not formed on the glazing surface,
due to which the efficiency of the still is
not affected.
•Sometimes in the regular stills due to
the condensation occurring on the
glazing surface the water droplets
sometimes fall back in the saline water
itself, which is avoided in this case.
56
Insulation
The lower part of the trays are required to be insulated so as to minimize heat loss.
The preferred insulation material used is sand as it is easily available and
helps in minimizing the heat loss. It also acts a heat sink which would return the heat to
the tray.

Sealants
Sealants are also required to prevent the vapors from escaping and also to prevent any
foreign contaminants from entering the distill water. Thus the sealants must be put in the
connecting pipes, the point where the glazing surface is attached to the basin and the
entry point of the vapor to the condensation chamber.
The suggested material for sealant is *Tar plastic.

*Tar plastic is waste plastics such as polyethylene and polystyrene which are converted into flakes and mixed
with heated tar. Environment and Sustainability 57
Engineering Drawing
Engineering Drawing
of the Tray
Engineering Drawing

Environment and Sustainability 60

 Before First Use
The Solar Still should be installed in the East-
West direction

Clean the Inner surface with chlorinated water

Allowing the condensation to take place for

two days *

Collection of water from the condensation

tank

* The production capacity of the still is 67 liters per day and the amount of water allowed per family is 20 liters
thus after two day of condensation the water present in the condensation tank will be 134 liters, thus
maintaining an excess of attest 30 liters Environment and Sustainability 61
Running of the Still
Filling the
preheating tank
at dawn

Water condenses
in the
Water gets filled
condensation tank
into the trays
and is collected in
the evening

Water starts
heating up in the Evaporation
preheating tank
starts in the still
as well

Environment and Sustainability 62

Maintenance of the Solar Still

The solar still should be installed

in a east-west direction so that it
is able to receive the maximum
sunlight and it should also be
placed on open ground.
There could be a separate
storage tank where the water can
be transferred from the
condensation tank, or water can
be directly collected from the
condensation chamber
The filling of the preheating tank
is a batch process. That is water
should be filled in everyday at
dawn. Or it should be refilled
after the still has cooled down as
5 to 7 percent of the distillation
occurs even after sundown.

The Glazing surface has got a tendency to get

dirty easily, and get covered with dust. Thus
decreasing the efficiency of the solar still, so it
is advisable that ate surface of the glazing
material be cleaned on a daily biases.
The trays should be taken out and cleaned
once in every 2to 3 months. All the trays are
not needed to be taken out at the same time.
Single tray can be taken out at a time for
cleaning off the residue left after the
evaporation.

Environment and Sustainability 63

Various other application of the solar powered
solar water distillator

Besides being used in areas where there is sever shortage of water the solar distillator
can also be used in places where there is a small industrial establishment and fresh water
is not always available for example

•The offshore oil wells,

•Observation points in remote places,

•Remote construction sites

Environment and Sustainability 64